17-08-2018
Claudio Melis and his culinary journey around the world (and back), in the photo by Tanio Liotta
If you want to discover what – according to my personal taste and experience – is one of the best restaurants in Italy, you must enter an old building in the historic centre of Bolzano. Then you must walk to the large wood door on Piazza della Mostra and ring the bell. Continue across the lobby while, at the end, somebody will draw a curtain; watching you walk, they will nod and then open the entrance to an almost enchanted restaurant, «all around you, the borders between space and time will become thin, and then indistinguishable», they tell us.
Here’s the entrance
A charicature of Melis by designer Alessandro Matta, in the emblem of the restaurant
At the far end
The dining room
This was a photographer’s gallery
Monica Wieser Melis, Claudio Melis, Roberto Wieser
Davide Ungaro
Sous chef Marc Bernardi
Bolzano has been missing a Michelin star for over 50 years, they say. Not for long, perhaps?
In the photo gallery, our dinner in the photos by Tanio Liotta.
Our dinner. After a fresh and energising Tomato and basil consommé, here’s Puffed rind, salted char (salted, desalted, cooked and whisked with extra virgin olive oil), powdered sea urchins
Steamed focaccia: steamed potato focaccia stuffed with parsley and goat cheese, marinated onion
Very interesting Jerusalem artichoke bark: Jerusalem artichoke peel, hummus with sesame and crispy bark
Rice and curry: cloud of Artemide black rice, Golden apple curry
Excellent bread, from mother yeast. Thirty percent of the flour is from Macino, the flour made from grape marks invented by Roberto Franzin (we wrote about it here: Franzin flies high with Tarabusino). Then butter with Maldon salt, toasted carasau bread, Agrestisextra virgin olive oil, Sicilian and organic
Ratatouille: toasted aubergine, courgette pesto, powdered pepper, frozen cheese (goat/cow)
Coregone mi-cuit, peas, raspberry, horseradish. Paired with Quarzit Riesling Peter Jakob Kühn 2016 (Germany). «The wine is more than a pairing, it completes the dinner», Davide Ungaro
Beetroot, ginger, watercress, kefir. With Isidor Azienda Agricola Giuseppe Fanti 2014, Incrocio Manzoni from Trentino
Fantastic Fish stock, fregula, santoreggia Mojito, crab meat. With Vin de Sofa 2017 from Gentle Folk, Adelaide Hills, Australia, an incredible blend of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Gewürztraminer. The broth is made with fish soup plus clam cooking water
Another very elegant dish: Cappellacci with snails, nettle pesto, bagna caoda. Earthy and sapid notes in a powerful and delicious dish, very charming. Paired with Bourgogne Chardonnay 2013 from Domaine Francois Carillon
Risotto with smoked butter, powdered tomato, herring roe, juniper and fresh rhubarbadding a sour note. With Grappoli del Grillo 2016 from Marco de Bartoli in Sicily
Eel cooked in three ways, Risina beans, chards, cardamom essence. The marvellous eel is marinated, smoked and cooked on the embers with Teriyaki sauce and beurre noir. Paired with the extraordinary Gewurztraminer RF Selection 2015 from Roberto Ferrari, South Tyrol, which spent one year in an amphora
Capriolo viaggiatore in tre portate, «a journey within the journey. Three parts of the roe deer, three areas of the world». We start with South Tyrol, roe deer tartare with celeriac and berries. With Contrada La Guardiola 2014 from Sicilian Passopisciaro Vini Franchetti, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio
Capriolo viaggiatore in tre portate: Paris. Roe deer in hay, endive, passion fruit, coffee and erba lepre
Capriolo viaggiatore in tre portate: USA. A roll, of course
Chocolate, hazelnut, coffee, sesame, latte più (a reference to A Clockwork Orange: cream, cognac and white chocolate liqueur)
Cherries with wine, mascarpone, passion fruit, marshmallow
«In Viaggio is an instant, a fragment of a conversation, a detail seen out of the corner of your eye while the train disappears on the horizon. In Viaggio is a memory that your mind preserved. In Viaggio is made of the nine dishes in which, with products from all around the world, used with an ethical and respectful approach, I create a journey that my past, present and future stories connect in a sensorial experience. In Viaggio is food culture, is the love of good food; a hymn to ingredients, and an endless movement detached from its context, while representing and defending it. In Viaggio is not a destination, it’s what you take with you when you leave again».(Claudio Melis)
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief